For the next few months, the O’SF library is please to present some of the art of Harriet Bart. A Minnesota native, Harriet Bart is a conceptual artist working across disciplines in a variety of media. She creates evocative content through the narrative power of objects, the intimacy of artists books, and the theater of installation. She has a deep and abiding interest in the personal and cultural expression of memory; it is at the core of her work.  You may link to Ms. Bart’s webpage here. The Art in the Library subject guide is here.

Bart’s work has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States and Germany. She has completed more than a dozen public art commissions in the United States, Japan, and Israel. She has won two Minnesota Book Awards and been the recipient of fellowships from Forecast Public Art, McKnight Foundation, Bush Foundation, MacDowell Colony, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, NEA Arts Midwest, and the Minnesota State Arts Board. Her work is in many museum, university, and private collections, including: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Weisman Art Museum, Jewish Museum, National Museum of Women in the Arts, and Sackner Archive of Visual and Concrete Poetry. Bart is a founding member of W.A.R.M. Gallery and Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art. She is represented by Driscoll Babcock, New York.

Here are some images of what you will find on the first floor of the O’SF library:

Established in 1966, GeoRef is produced by the American Geosciences Institute and is now one of the most comprehensive databases for the geosciences (or earth science, as it is sometimes known).  Some specific topics covered include:

• Environmental and engineering geology
• Hydrology
• Economic geology
• Geophysics
• Petrology
• Paleontology
• Marine geology and oceanography
• Mineralogy.

This focus lends itself well to use by those studying geology, engineering, environmental sciences, archeology, and similar disciplines.  Students can search a number of different formats, like journal articles, books, maps, conference papers, and reports in order to find information dating back to 1785.

The Art Full Text database provides full-text access to many journal articles on art and art history. For articles where only a citation or abstract is provided, click on the Check for Full Text icon to determine availability.

– Other subjects covered in this database include women’s studies, cultural studies, and history.

– Access the Art Full Text database by using the A-Z List of Databases link on the Library Homepage.

– To search only Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals, select this option from the limiters.

Use the Research Guides link on the Library Homepage to explore other subject-specific databases in Art/Art History.

Banned Books Week

Celebrating The Freedom To Read

September 22-28, 2013

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Held September 22-28, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.    

Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. As such, they are a threat to freedom of speech and choice.